OUR HISTORY
In the 60s and 70s, home delivery car services, using the Ford and Chevrolet cars of that time, only had one departure in the early morning and a return in the afternoon.
Transportation was something that did not exist, since there was no specific schedule or terminals. By the end of the 70s, on the idea of the nun Sol Ismael Tavarez, drivers were advised to organize themselves, thus ASIMILA was created in 1979 with Hector Castillo Pion (Bule) as First President, Mr. Nicolas Herrera (Guellón) as First Finance, Mr. Leoncio Martinez Secretary of Organization, Mr. Angito as Second in Finance and Mr. Toñe as Discipline Officer.
Members included:
Pastori Nunez
Pablo Contreras (Raphael the Seagull)
Martin Castillo
Silvio Castro
Jesus Corina
Luis Cedano
Mr. Mercedon
Mr. Ubelin,
Beloved Guellon
Once organized and constituted, they went from cars to small buses of 12 and 15 passengers, providing home delivery service. In 1981, the Union of Drivers and Owners of Buses of La Altagracia Province (SICHOPROLA) was created.
In the history of our transport family there have been several General Secretaries such as:
Hector Castillo Pion (Bule)
Francisco Castillo Castro (Jilin)
Guido Cabrera (Guido)
Junior Castro Montilla (Junior)
It is worth noting the outstanding participation of Mr. Florentino Cedano (Luis), who has held the position of Secretary of Organization in our family for six periods.
Sr. Junior Castro
Presidente
In 1986, the demands and services required by the Province made it possible to incorporate buses or minibuses with capacity for 26 to 30 passengers and with them the EXPRESS service, with Mr. Francisco Peña Ramírez, Mr. Florentino Cedano (Luis) and Mr. Martín Castillo being the first owners to acquire buses or minibuses to provide this service.
In 1992, buses with 36 to 40 passengers were added until 1998, when buses with 45 to 50 passengers were used.
In 2003, buses with capacity for 54 to 60 passengers were implemented with all the amenities: full air conditioning and double television to meet the demands of the transportation service at that time.
In 2004, another child of this achievement in the Higüey-Santo Domingo transportation sector was born: THE ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT BUS OWNERS OF LA ALTAGRACIA PROVINCE (APTPRA), starting as EXPRESS BÁVARO together with SITRABAPU, covering a need and request from the tourism sector and the hotel business in this region.
It is worth noting that 98% of the owners, drivers and collectors are natives of the Province of La Altagracia (Higüey), which means that APTPRA is a source of employment in our Province.
THE ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT BUS OWNERS OF LA ALTAGRACIA PROVINCE (APTPRA)